Fragaria Fighter
by Thunderbyrd
Summary: Always surrounded by many daring heroes every day in her life, Drupe begins to grow insecure about her own self-worth. Luckily, an almost-unlikely ally agrees to help her through her problems...which may also lead to the biggest fight in Drupe's life. *Implied Rad/Drupe*
1. Chapter 1: Drupe's Dilemma

**First things first, it's time to respond to some reviews regarding "Sleepy Sensories"! (yay!)**

 **-berzerkgod (love dat username, btw):** _ **I too agree that Dipper not having any form of PTSD after the events of Weirdmageddon would be pretty unrealistic and also, apologies for the over-explained dream scene that Dipper had, I tend to get wordy in some parts only cause I fear of leaving anything crucial out, but I'm thrilled that you enjoyed the fic and I humbly thank you for the honest review! :)**_

 **-Guest #1:** _ **Thank you so much for your sweet review, and you are correct, the world could also use more Wendip! 3**_

 **-Guest #2:** _ **Thanks! :) Personally, I would like to write something like that involving Dipper trying to get back to the Falls sometime down the line, but with the fact that I have other stories planned for future (shown on my profile), I may need some time before I can properly plan out what to write for that, but I will certainly keep your suggestion in mind! :)**_

 **Anyways, we got another OK K.O. story (earlier than expected, too!), but this one stars a character not classified as a main character (don't worry, K.O., Rad, and Enid will still appear in this story!). Today, b/c I wanted to write for a background character for a change, being everyone's favorite strawberry girl, Drupe!**

 **Also two other things: A) This story takes place somewhere between Season One's "Back in Red Action" and Season Two's "Dendy's Power", and B) There will be some implied Rad X Drupe in this story, so sincerest apologies out to any Rad X Raymond or Rad X Enid shippers out there! Hope you enjoy! :D**

 **OK K.O. Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun.)**

* * *

 **FRAGARIA FIGHTER**

 **CHAPTER ONE: DRUPE'S DILEMMA**

The heroes that daily frequent Lakewood Plaza all come in various sizes, shapes, and species. There are heroes that look buff, skinny, fat, tall, short, robust, weak, or dumpy, and then, depending on how you look at them, they could also look handsome, beautiful, young, old, unsightly, menacing, cute, or even average-looking.

EIther way you look at it, each hero around Lakewood Plaza certainly look unique to one another and each one possess at least one special ability that makes them stand out. Whether it's Sparko's electricity powers, Rad's telekinesis, Nick Army's explosive personality, or Crinkly Wrinkly…just being Crinkly Wrinkly, they always have something special about them that usually help them out whenever and whatever the situation is.

For someone like Drupe, she has two special things going on for her; her beauty and her fashion blog.

Drupe considered herself as a high-profile girl. In spite of being born as an overly-ripened strawberry girl, she still thought of herself as a beautiful, high-sprung young lady, in which many others would also agree.

On regards to her fashion blog, ever since K.O. first helped her out by essentially spreading word about her blog to the masses, she quickly had more followers than she knew what to do with. Of course, she wouldn't say it out loud, but she certainly did appreciate what the young hero did for her. Nowadays, she would post pictures of herself wearing new, stylish, trendy outfits weekly on her blog and to the world, as well as posting other tidbits like fashion advice and healthy living tips.

It seemed like Drupe was moving on up in the world. That is, until one day, when things changed for better or for worse.

It was Saturday morning when Drupe arrived at Lakewood Plaza for the day. As usual, the plaza was swarming with various heroes either working, shopping, or just hanging out as it usually occurs. Although, despite the lovely summer weather outside, Drupe didn't feel sunny nor glamorous today.

Today, she just felt...off.

All she did was kept her head down and didn't even bother to look at or talk to anyone else, even if they greeted her first.

"Morning, Drupe!" greeted Punching Judy, who was exiting the Fitness Dojo.

"How's it goin', Drupe?" called out both Real Magic Skeleton and Brandon from the eFrame store.

Every time someone gave her a friendly greeting, Drupe still said nothing to no one, too deep in her own thoughts to even utter a "hello" back to the others. Normally, at this time, Drupe would be hanging out with her own clique of friends, usually loitering behind one of the stores and acting all cool and stuff, but today, she didn't seem to feel like doing any of that.

She was just passing around the old record store, thinking to herself, when she hear a familiar voice chime out to her.

"'Sup, Drupe?" Drupe finally snapped out her daze to see Red Action lazily leaning against a wall with a soft smirk. "How's it hangin'?"

Drupe waved back and managed to crack a small smile at her friend.

Her Level 4, time-travelling, arm cannon-toting, butt-kicking friend...

"Oh...hey, Red Action…" replied Drupe sadly. Red Action tilted her head in confusion.

"Something crossing your mind, chica? Ya seem a little down in the dumps today..." Red asked, a rarely-used concerned look on her face. Drupe's eyes widened in fear.

Red Action was preparing to place a comforting hand on Drupe's shoulder, but the strawberry girl in question backed away before Red can do anything.

"No! No, no, I-I'm fine! Really! I just...uh, need to do some errands today, so...uh, gonna be busy all day, you know!" she persisted nervously, praying internally that her futuristic friend would understand. After a few seconds passing, the return of Red's trademark smirk seemed to seal the deal.

"Well, alrighty then. If you say so…" replied Red Action with a soft shrug. Drupe sighed thankfully as was just gonna turn her heel to continue her walk when Red spoke up again.

"Well, listen, if ya do have the time later, me and Gregg are gonna be hanging out that new training arena downtown later at 5:00. We'll be there if ya wanna join us for a little sparring session?" she invited kindly. Drupe turned her head and flashed her a shy, tilted smile.

"Maybe, sure, I suppose…" she replied unsurely before walking away, still deep in her thoughts.

' _What good would_ I _do in a fight compared to Red?_ '

A little while later, Drupe's travels led her towards Mr. Gar's Bodega, where through the window, she saw someone bulky and bright blue standing up on a ladder. Feeling quite bored, she figured that at least saying 'hi' to a friend might help cheer herself up.

* * *

Radicles was having a tiresome morning indeed. Earlier this morning, he was just merrily working in his own domain, stacking boxes in the stock room, until Mr. Gar burst in and straight up ordered him to replace the bulbs in the overhead light fixtures in the main store, while K.O. and Enid did own his own job in their place, so here he was, doing a task that he felt was well beneath him.

Right now, he had just hastily fixed in a new light bulb (sloppy enough for the bulb to be loose enough to fall out, but Rad was too tired to care) and was now balancing himself on a small step-ladder trying to close down a plastic cover on the fixture as best as he can without breaking it.

"Stupid boss tellin' me to this stupid job!" he complained, "Enid and K.O. can't stack boxes as perfectly and quickly as I could, so why am I even-"

* **BING-BONG!** *

Rad ceased his griping long enough to catch his eye towards the female fruit creature stepping into the air-conditioned and surprisingly-empty bodega. Regardless, he managed to perk up a bit and gave her a cool nod and smile.

"Oh, hey, Drupe! What's shakin'?" greeted Rad warmly. Drupe gulped awkwardly.

"N-Nothing...nothing at all…" she stammered. Rad seemed puzzled by the cool teen's rather nervous reply, but still decided to conversate with Drupe, all while still trying to close the light cover.

"Usual group of friends doing okay?" asked Rad. Drupe shrugged, her head now looking down at her feet.

"Uh, yep. Yep, all doing okay...heh-heh-heh…" answered Drupe awkwardly, "H-How're your friends doing?"

"Eh, alright I guess...K.O. and Enid are in the back room taking inventory so I'm stuck out front for the day…" shrugged Rad. Drupe looked up at Rad and tilted her head.

"All by yourself?" she queried confusedly.

"Meh, it's not so bad…" shrugged Rad, just as he finally closed down the light fixture's cover (improperly, of course…)

"Besides, it's a nice change of pace from being in the stock room every day." chuckled Rad good-naturedly, as if to make it seem like his downgrade of a job was not big deal. Drupe joined in the laughter as well, albeit more stilted and awkward than Rad's.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh...yeaahh…" Drupe trailed off, before looking back down at her feet.

Rad looked at Drupe with confused and worried eyes. He stepped down from the ladder and carefully slid next to her.

"Seriously, Drupe, is everything okay with ya? Ya seem more...unhinged than usual…"

Drupe looked away from Rad with an embarrassed look on her face. Her already-red cheeks blushed and her fingers trembled slightly. Thinking as if he was being too imposing, Rad grew a bit nervous.

"Oh, geez, s-sorry, I didn't mean to come off strong, I-" stammered the blue alien, but Drupe cut him off gently.

"No-no-no, Rad, you're fine, really! It's just that...well…"

Drupe gulped softly and exhaled softly. While she knew Rad wanted to genuinely help her out, but she still felt nervous about explaining her condition to a hero with a power level greatly higher than hers. Still, she decided to just swallow her pride and confide to her friend.

"Lately, I _have_ been feeling off, because of something involving me…?" she murmured softly, but still loud enough to grab Rad's full attention. Treading carefully, Rad looked at Drupe with confused and sad eyes.

"W-What do you mean, Drupe? What happened?" he asked worriedly.

"Well, it's just that...well, look at this!"

Drupe reached into her pocket and pulled out her Pow Card, showing it clearly in front of Rad's face. The alien looked at the card in question, only showing a portrait of the strawberry girl next to him and a small caption on the bottom.

 **DRUPE - HERO LEVEL: 0**

Rad raised a confused eyebrow. "So, what's the problem again?" he asked carefully.

Drupe gave out a sigh, mostly out of sadness rather than annoyance. "The problem is that this plaza is crawling with great heroes with higher power levels than mine! I mean, look what everyone's levels are compared to mine: Co-Bruh is Level 3, Nick Army and Joff are both Level 4, Enid's Level 3, even Crinkly flippin' Wrinkly is _Level 8_! Like, everyone here has something special about them that I don't!"

She buried her head in her hands and groaned feebly. Rad looked at her in sympathy and patted her back carefully.

"C'mon, Drupe, don't act like this...you are just as special and heroic as everybody else in the plaza." he reassured as best as he can.

Drupe scoffed bitterly and looked away in a huff. "Easy for _you_ to say, Rad. Your power level is 3!" she stated unhappily.

Rad cringed sightly at her sharp tone, but was still willing to help cheer up his friend.

"Drupe, I'm sorry to ask, but what prompted all this grief? You're not usually the one to act self-conscious…" said Rad in a concerned tone.

Drupe's bitterness turned to sadness again. She sighed softly and slumped her shoulders, her eyes still pointed away from Rad.

"A week ago, I found out from Enid that Red Action used to be part of this time-travelling group of fighters back in her era. 'Hue Troop', I think that's what they're called? Anyways, it just...well...ugh, it's just makes me feel inferior, y'know?"

Rad's eyebrows raised in alarm and bafflement. "Inferior…?" he repeated in disbelief.

"Well, yeah! I mean, look at us! Red Action's a brave and capable Level 4 hero with power blasters, agility, and great strength. I'm a Level 0 with a dumb, little fashion blog, how do I even compete with something like _that!?_ "

However, before Drupe could continue her moping and self-deprecation, she felt a beefy, but supportive hand gently grab her shoulder. She lifted her head to look up at Rad, who was now sporting a rather serious look on his face.

"Drupe, just because you are a Level 0 doesn't mean you aren't capable destined for great things! Heroes like Mr. Gar or Chip Damage train for years to get where they are today, through practicing and honing their skills to make something of themselves…" said Rad importantly.

Drupe gazed at Rad in surprise. Usually, Rad isn't one to be so forward or ultra-supportive. Rad, however, wasn't finished with his words.

"I mean, take a look at K.O.! Sure, the kid's at a 0.1 level right now, but he still works hard every day to prove himself that he will be a great hero, and wouldn't you know, he's getting better and stronger each day! All you need is a little pick-me-up and a bit of self-confidence!"

Drupe's lips pursed unsurely. "I'm not sure about that, Rad...I mean, as far as I know, I don't even have any powers!" she confided.

Rad scratched in chin in thought, and after ten seconds of pondering, his antennas perked up in brilliance.

"Well, if it will help, I can help ya to see if ya do have any powers…" he offered kindly. Drupe finally looked back at Rad with surprised eyes.

"Really?" she asked, her tone sounding more shocked and hopeful than earlier, "You're really gonna help me out with this?"

Rad smiled back and softly shrugged. "Well, why not? We are friends after all, right?"

"Well, yeah…" answered Drupe honestly.

Usually whenever Red Action or Gregg were unavailable to hang out, she would sometimes hang out with her own small group of friends to hang with, usually being Real Magic Skeleton, Brandon, and on some occasions, Rad. Ever since the whole "plaza prom" event happened, Drupe seemed to see Rad in a whole new light, proving that he was a pretty cool guy after all.

Rad's jovial voice broke her out of her thoughts again. "So, ya ready to do this?"

Drupe jolted up from her spot and gave Rad a weird look.

"Wait, right now? Don't you still have to work?" she asked.

Rad waved off her uncertainty smugly. "Eh, no worries. I was goin' on break anyways, since I already finished _my_ job!" He chortled, pointing towards the askew, creaking light fixture above him.

Drupe blinked in mild confusion, but felt best just to shrug it off. "Sooo, how do I find out my true powers then?" she asked.

Rad replied with a soft smirk and lifted up an index finger. Then, he used his telekinetic powers to lift up some old wooden planks sitting in the corner of the store up into the air without breaking a sweat.

"Quite simple, Drupe! We'll be doin' some training to see what powers you may possess!" Drupe gulped in fear.

"Tr-Training? Y-You mean like fighting!?" she asked worriedly.

"Well, not actual fighting, of course. Just 'pretend fighting', just to see if we can find out what you are capable of!" replied Rad, as he quickly clocked out for break. Drupe shrugged and soon followed him towards the door.

"...I sure do hope this works out…" murmured the fruit fashionista with a sigh. Rad flashed her a good-natured smile.

"You'll do fine, Drupe, trust me! Training is as easy as fixing a lightbulb! Ha-ha-ha-ha..."

Rad's hearty laughter carried out through the store as he and Drupe exited the bodega with their supplies in-hand, self-assured that his mentoring skills would work out Drupe in some way...

* **CRASSSHH!** * * **CLUNK!** *

...though judging by the smashed lightbulb and dented light cover on the floor, it would seem that Rad _may_ be a little in over his head, as usual...

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, guys, gals, and pals! Next chapter will feature Drupe's training session with Rad! Also, this will sound like a** _ **really**_ **dumb question, but does one know how to add a new character tag in the category list above? I know this site has a guide to do as such, but I feel like it's not clear enough to me.**

 **Anyways, next chapter will be up either Wednesday or Thursday, so stay tuned! :D**

 **~Thunderbyrd**


	2. Chapter 2: Drupe's Dexterity

**So, this is awkward…**

 **Okay, so this story will now be four chapters instead of three, only cause I felt that the story needed more characterisation, considering that I am writing for a character that's not as fully-fleshed out as Enid, Rad, or K.O. or such (not to say I hate writing for Drupe, but it does prove to be somewhat of a challenge for me), hence why I slightly delayed this chapter.**

 **Additionally, while writing this, I had also formed an idea on my Overwatch fic "Skirmish" and wound up writing that on top of this one. Plus, I was busy yesterday b/c it was my grandmother's birthday, so I got sidetracked for most of the day, so basically, if this chapter seems to rushed or forced to you guys, I'm very sorry and I'll make sure the next chapter are better!**

 **Still, I hope ya'll enjoyed your Labor Day weekend! So let's see if what entails for Drupe during Rad's training session...**

 **OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun).**

* * *

 **FRAGARIA FIGHTER**

 **CHAPTER TWO: DRUPE'S DEXTERITY**

The stage was all set for Rad to begin training Drupe and to find out what powers she may have. Rad had used his levitation powers to set up some wooden planks and cinder blocks together in a row. Drupe, who stood aside as Rad was working his magic, tried boosting up her confidence by giving herself a little pep talk.

' _Okay, Drupe, this is just a little practice session. Just to see what you can do to be a real hero. Besides...what's the worst that could happ-?_ '

"So, are ya ready, Drupe?"

Rad's remark broke Drupe from her thoughts with a startled "EEP!" before the strawberry girl managed to regain her composure.

"Y-Yeah, sure thing, Rad…" she mumbled softly. Rad nodded and began his lesson.

"Now, the first thing into finding about your true power is through concentration. Try and keep your mind centered and focused when attempting to hone your skills…" encouraged Rad.

He lifted up his index finger. "Like so…" he stated, closing his eyes tightly.

Pointing towards the old dumpster located next to the store, Rad gave out a calm sigh and breathed softly, his mind clear and focused. Drupe watched on in curiosity as Rad's focused energy began to resonate from his mind, his atenneas perking up and glowing a bright white color.

Soon enough, a purple stream of light exploded from Rad's pointer finger, and as the dumpster was now engulfed in a cocoon of purple energy, the alien stock boy slowly levitated the dumpster, a few feet into the sky. Rad opened his eyes, looked up at the hovering dumpster, and chuckled smugly at his awesomeness. Drupe gaped at the spectacle in awe.

"How're you able to do that?" she asked curiously.

"Through deep concentration and brain waves...", explained Rad nonchalantly as he twirled the dumpster in the air, "Many natives from Planet X have this ability and can handle it with ease…"

After a minute of levitation, Rad dropped the dumpster back in its spot with an unceremonious thud, sending bits of trash inside flying out from impact. He dusted off his hands and flashed a smile towards Drupe.

"Now, let's see if you can do exactly what I did. Just remember to balance your stance and your mind..." offered Rad. Drupe gripped her fists and gave him a determined nod.

She took a few steps forward and stared at the dumpster in silent concentration. Closing her eyes, she tried to keep her breathing steady and her stance tight and tense, attempting to clear her mind and to focus on using her potential powers.

Unfortunately, no matter what she did, whether it was reaching out her hand or saying some sort of magic word, the dumpster stayed where it was.

After two minutes of serious contemplation, Drupe opened his eyes and loosened up with an annoyed sigh.

"Ugh, well...that didn't work…" grumbled Drupe. Despite her situation, Rad gave Drupe an encouraging smile.

"No worries, Drupe. Maybe telekinesis isn't your main power." he assured, "We just gotta keep trying to find out what you can do…"

Drupe shrugged half-heartedly. "I suppose…but I don't see what good it'll come from it..."

Rad scoffed good-heartedly. "Now, that's quitter talk, Drupe. Everyone's gotta have some sort of special power!" Drupe rolled her eyes.

"I'm not a quitter, Rad! But seriously, I come from a family of fruit beings, I doubt I can conjure up ice or fire powers or use levitation powers like you do…" scoffed Drupe, kicking her feet in annoyance. Rad understood her dilemma and hummed thoughtfully.

"I guess you're right…" he murmured softly, scratching his chin. Rad pondered for a second before settling on a new idea.

"Well, maybe if you can't do conjuring abilities, maybe physical combat is your speciality."

Drupe went wide-eyed and jolted back in horror. "Physical combat!?" she parroted back.

Rad, undeterred from her apparent disgust, simply smiled. "Yep, which is why I set up these wooden boards to practice karate chopping." he clarified, moving back to reveal three boards held up with some cinder blocks.

Drupe looked at the boards and couldn't help but to cringe. ' _Karate chopping?_ ' she thought incredulously.

It only took a few seconds before Drupe made her decision.

"Yeaaahhh, no, I ain't busting up my manicure to do karate, thank you very much." she stated, crossing her arms and looking away in a huff.

Rad gave her a funny look. "Seriously, Drupe? I thought you were serious about doing training?"

"I am," she replied curtly, "but I am not risking busting my nails while doing karate! My manicurist would flip her lid if I came to the salon with busted nails and scratched fingers…"

It was Rad's turn to roll his eyes this time as he suppressed the urge to groan, but he still kept his composure.

"Okay...maybe we can try karate kicks instead of chops?" he offered tiredly, gesturing towards another plank again.

Drupe broke away from her self-righteousness and looked back at the board, a thoughtful look on her face. Deciding that maybe that could work, she walked up to one of the planks and readied her stance.

She took a deep breath, lifted her left leg high in the air for a full second, exhaled, swooped it straight down on the board...

* **THUNK!** *

" _YE-OUCH!_ "

And after one hard smack against the board, Drupe found herself gripping her throbbing, sore heel and was now hobbling back and forth in pain, wincing and mentally cursing to herself. Rad helped Drupe keep her balance and could only give out a sigh once he saw that the board was still in one piece.

"This may be a little harder than I thought…" he murmured worriedly. Suddenly...

" _ **RADICLES!**_ "

The thunderous, agitated roar of Rad's boss from inside the bodega practically sent both Rad and Drupe tumbling down on their backsides, as both teens trembled fightfully on the ground with Rad's Level 11 behemoth of a boss walked towards them, looming over the two like an angry building. Rad gulped bravely.

"Y-Y-Yeah, boss?" he asked, sweating dripping from his brow.

"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU TO CHANGE THE LIGHT BULBS, YOUNG MAN!" he boomed authoritatively, his face as red as an apple. Rad grew defensive.

"B-But I did change the light bulbs, sir! Really!" he replied honestly. Mr. Gar, unconvinced, pointed towards the bodega with a veiny, bulky arm.

"Then, explain this…" he growled furiously. Rad and Drupe looked towards his direction.

* **BING-BONG!** *

The bodega doors slid open to reveal the shattered light bulb and dented light cover shown clearly on the floor. Realizing that he was found out, Rad cringed softly.

"And I also don't remember issuing you to go on break so you can go and make a mess in the parking lot, NOW GET ALL THIS CLEANED UP THIS INSTANT!" roared Mr. Gar, before stomping back inside and back to his office.

Rad picked himself and Drupe back on their feet, before letting out an unhappy groan.

"Sorry, Drupe. Looks like practice is over for the day…" he murmured upsettingly, dusting himself off.

Drupe seemed to be upset at this news as well. After an afternoon of fretting and self-doubt, she was finally getting serious about this whole "being a true hero" ordeal and wanting to prove her worth to Red Action. But naturally, it was over before it started. Feeling quite dejected, Drupe decided it was best to just give up and go home.

"If you say so, Rad…" she sighed, before turning her heel and getting ready to head back home. However, Rad's voice caused her ears to perk up a bit.

"But, hey. If ya want, we can pick this up tomorrow if ya want. The bodega's closed on Sunday, so we can meet back here and continue our trainin' if ya like!" offered Rad kindly, as he quickly cleaned away the trash and planks with his telekinesis.

Drupe's eyes went wide, and aside from the anxious feeling about actually fighting still lingering in her heart, she managed to flash a happy, albeit nervous grin towards Rad.

"Y-Yeah, sure thing!" she replied back. Rad returned the smile and gave her a thumbs up..

"Let's meet back here at 12 noon and we'll continue training…" he said, to which Drupe agreed and they both departed with a friendly goodbye.

As Rad stepped back into the bodega to clean up his mess, Drupe breathed in a fresh gasp of air and continued on with her inner pep talk.

' _Okay, so today may have not been productive, but we got all day tomorrow to figure myself out…'_ Drupe thought to herself as positively as she could, ' _Maybe tomorrow might be more enlightening…_ '

* * *

However, I'm sorry to say that the next day proved to be more or less the same as yesterday. Both Drupe and Rad were milling around the empty bodega parking lot, trying many methods for Drupe to explore what powers she may possess. They tried other forms of power conjuring like tai chi, shadow boxing, breathing exercises, meditation, summoning, elaborate hand movements and gestures...

They even tried out a bunch of foods and drinks that helps someone get a special power-up move, but sadly, nothing seemed to be working!

As patient and encouraging as Rad was being while training Drupe, even he began to feel slightly tired trying to find out what Drupe's special power was.

It wasn't until 2:00PM until they were both were now out of ideas to try and find Drupe's power moves. Drupe, feeling more down than ever, made sure her indignations were heard.

" _Ugh_ , this is absolutely hopeless, Rad! At this rate, I'll never find out my true power!" she whined helplessly.

Rad frowned upsettingly at her friend's negativity. Despite the fact that he was tired and running out of ideas on how to find her powers, he still wanted to help out Drupe with her problem. Unfortunately, Drupe's insecurity was still very much high and her patience was wearing thin.

"Don't be like that, Drupe!" said Rad worriedly, "There's gotta be something we haven't tried yet!"

"Rad, we went through every method and technique in the book to help harness my power! Yoga, breathing, push-ups, even trying those special power-up foods didn't work!" she griped.

Rad stroked his chin thought. "Yeah, maybe trying out that candy bar that gives you fire breath wasn't that great an idea to begin with…" he commented, looking down at his burnt crop top with an awkward frown. Drupe groaned frustratingly.

"L-Let's face it, Rad…" she said finally, "Maybe I'm not cut out for this hero thing after all."

She leaned against the dumpster in a pathetic slump. Rad walked up to her in hopes to cheer her up.

"Drupe, please! I know you have the potential to be a hero, really! We just need to work harder to find out-"

"Find out _what_ , Rad!?" snapped Drupe in a more hostile tone, "That I'm a pathetic sadsack of a hero with no chance to ever meet Red Action's standards!? That she'll probably break ties with my friendship knowing I'll never be as good as her!?

Rad grew nervous and scared upon seeing Drupe so angry. He backed away carefully, his eyes fixed on Drupe's nasty glare.

"Drupe, that's crazy talk! You know Red wouldn't end your friendship because of something like that!" he tried to reason, but Drupe still wasn't having it.

"Yes, she would! Here she is galavanting off with those Hue Troop fighters and here I am standing in the background, forgotten and worthless. Just admit it, Rad! I was never destined to be as perfect and strong like you and your friends!" she grumbled disdainfully.

"Drupe, that's not what I thought at al-"

* **BANG!** *

"OH, GEEZ!"

Rad knew Drupe was incredibly upset about her situation, but he didn't think she would actually begin punching the dumpster behind her, regardless if she messed up her manicure or not.

"There's a good reason why I'm still and will always be a Level 0, Rad, and do you know why?" she accused, looking towards the stunned blue alien as she kept continuing her punches. Rad only gawked nervously at his upset friend.

"Drupe, please, I-"

"The reason is it's because I am a lousy excuse of a hero with no real talents, because _I straight up suck at everything that I do!_ "

With that said, Drupe immediately threw back her right arm to land one more hard punch against the trash bin, and just as the punch swiftly and harshly connected...

* **WHIP!* *SMASH!** *

...all that was left in silence, the only thing being said was Rad letting out a surprised and prolonged gasp.

Drupe breathed heavily, her face reddened with frustration, and looked back up to Rad's shell-shocked expression. She raised an annoyance eyebrow.

"What?" was all she asked. Rad simply pointing a finger to his left, in the direction towards the dumpster.

She managed to break away from her self-loathing to look to her right and let out a startled squeak upon the sight of what just happened.

There, in place of her right arm, was a long, thorn-covered, whip-like vine, extending out from her shoulder. It had the same density as a regular old rope, but felt stronger than a metal chain. The other end of the vine whip would up piercing right through the dumpster, now giving it a decent-sized hole on the front side.

Both teens were too gobsmacked to even utter a single word before Rad finally attempted to break the tension.

"Drupe...how...why...when did…" stammered Rad, clearly dumbfounded by this new discovery. Drupe blushed heavily and shambled away from Rad in embarrassment.

"N-N-Now, Rad. I-It's not what you think! I-I didn't mean to lose my temper, I'm sorr-"

"Drupe, that was AWESOME!"

Drupe blinked. "Excuse me?" she asked.

Rad smiled broadly as he walked over to his friend. "Drupe, that was an awesome attack! I-I never knew you can do something like that!"

Drupe, stunned by Rad's praise, could only stammer helplessly. While she was doing that, the vine managed to break loose from the dumpster and swiftly unfurl and morph back into Drupe's normal arm.

"Well, I mean...I-I just didn't think to use it, I-I guess…" she murmured, shying away once again. Rad looked over to her with confused eyes.

"You didn't think? You mean you knew about these powers all along?" he beckoned. Drupe looked back towards Rad and rubbed her right arm in shame.

"Y-Yeah, but it usually happens when I'm provoked. Surprisingly, it doesn't happen very often, so I sometimes forget about it...I-I'm really sorry for being so angry, Rad…"

Rad gently grabbed hold of Drupe's shoulders before she wound up going into hysterics and gave her a reassuring smile.

"Drupe, Drupe, it's okay, really! Besides, I think this can be the answer to your dilemma…" he assured.

Drupe wiped away an upset tear. "W-What does that mean?" she asked softly.

"It's means that we may have found your special power…" confirmed Rad with a proud smile.

Sobered up from her depression, hearing those words fly out of Rad's mouth finally succeeded in making Drupe a genuinely happy grin.

"Y-You really think so, Rad?" she asked in a soft, awestruck voice. Rad nodded, his smile never leaving his face.

"I don't think, I _know_..." he stated officially. Suddenly, another idea formed in Rad's head. He snapped his fingers and eyed towards his purple van parked close by from the store.

"Hang on for a sec, Drupe! There's somethin' I wanna test!" he called out. Soon enough, he bolted towards his vehicle and began rummaging through the back seat for something. Drupe stood by, confused and curious as to what Rad was planning.

Rad soon arrived back, levitating a small box with his telekinesis. Dropping the box next to Drupe, he quickly opened the box for her to look inside.

Drupe tilted her head and gave Rad a funny look upon seeing what the box contained.

"Old soda cans?" she asked confusedly.

"Yep, but we will be using them as target practice to test the reflexes on your vine whips!" clarified Rad, now using his telekinesis to line up eleven empty cans alongside the top of the dumpster.

"Now, see if you can use your vines to snare one of the cans and reel it back towards you…" instructed Rad. Drupe inhaled bravely and walked in front of the dumpster again, keeping her posture poised and straight.

Keeping her mind clear, she raised her right arm again and began to concentrate on summoning her power. To her surprise, it actually worked as her arm turned into a vine again and shot forwards its target...

* **WHIP!* *SMASH!** *

Or, at least, _close_ to its target as the vine wound up puncturing another hole in the dumpster.

Drupe grunted softly and reeled back her vine. She tried shooting another one again, in which it _was_ aimed for one of the cans this time, but the whip only managed to knock away the can instead of grabbing.

Rad decided to step in before Drupe could get frustrated again.

"Just relax, Drupe! Just loosen your muscles and focus your energy on grabbing a can…" he instructed calmly. Drupe took in another breath of fresh air and was ready to try again.

For the first nine tries, all Drupe has managed to do was only flick away the cans with her whips in all directions, but even with her attempted to grab a single can proved fruitless, she still kept her composure and didn't plan on giving up just yet.

With only one empty can left standing on the dumpster's end, Drupe narrowed her eyes and kept her breathing steady and her focus aligned on the can and the can alone. Throwing back her hand once again, she tossed another whip towards the can...

* **WHIP!** * * **CRUNCH!** *

And to Drupe and Rad's delight, the vine had successfully lassoed around the can, gripping firmly against the metal container. Drupe reeled the can back with her regular arm and giggled joyously.

"Rad! I did it! _I actually did it!_ " she cheered, bouncing on her feet and lifted up the can for him to see. Rad chortled happily and ran up to Drupe, engulfing her with a big bear hug.

"Way to go, Drupe! I knew you could do it!" he congratulated sincerely, swinging Drupe around without a care in the world.

The laughter and hugging lasted for a full half-minute before Rad and Drupe released their hug.

"You see, Drupe! I told ya that you have potential to be a hero!" reminded Rad. Drupe tittered in return.

"I guess I do!" she giggled, feeling as if a giant weight has been lifted off from her shoulders.

Suddenly, it was Drupe's turn to form an idea as she ambly looked towards a row of wooden boards and cinder blocks set up nearby.

"Hey, Rad?" she asked hopefully, "D-Do you think I can practice some karate with those boards again?"

Rad perked up and gave Drupe the go-ahead. "Sure! Let's see what ya got!" he rallied.

Soon, Drupe bounded over to one of the boards and closed her eyes, taking in another gulp of air. She raised one of her vines straight to the sky and flung it straight back down on the plank...

* **WHIP!** * * **CLATTER!** *

...resulting in the board to be sliced perfectly in two!

Drupe opened her eyes and squealed giddly at the sight of her progress, with Rad cheering alongside her.

"Hee-hee-hee! This is so fun!" exclaimed Drupe, bouncing up and down like a little schoolgirl. She turned towards Rad with big, excited eyes. "Can we practice some more, Rad?" she asked her friend rapturously.

"Why not?!" cheered Rad, his smile big and proud, "We got the whole day ahead of us!"

So, for the rest of the day, Drupe spent her time training and controlling her vine powers with Rad happily helping out by her side. She practiced such methods like grabbing objects, throwing objects, using her vines to lift heavier objects. She even used her powers to perform some stunts, such as using her vines like a jump rope and using them to propel her body in the air, like a giant spring.

The day was met with both teens happily laughing and lasted long in the day, even as evening hour had finally struck. With their practice finished for the day, Rad and Drupe ended their session with a new proposition, involving them to still continue their training for the rest of the week together. Their newly-set plan involved an hour of practice during Rad's break at work, with the rest of the time being whatever Drupe can practice at home.

Both teens agreed to this idea and they both decided to pack it up for the day, with Rad offering to drive Drupe back home. Drupe happily agreed as the two heroes left the dimly-lit Lakewood Plaza parking lot.

On the car ride to her house, Drupe's smile never left her face. With the thought about using her newly-found powers in potential combat, she felt something that she has hardly ever felt: confidence.

Maybe, she thought hopefully to herself, she could be on the same level as her friends.

And for the first time since hearing about her friend's role as a Hue Trooper, Drupe finally began to feel pretty great about herself….

 **TO BE CONTINUED…**

* * *

 **Remember that one scene in "You're Everybody's Sidekick" when Drupe used those vines to mess around with K.O.? That's what I'm using as her main power! Thanks for reading and I'll see you soon with Chapter Three: Drupe's Determination!**

 **~Thunderbyrd**


	3. Chapter 3: Drupe's Determination

**Happy Patriot Day, everyone!**

 **Nothing much to say for this chapter, aside from it being a short penultimate chapter before the juicy action can finally happen!**

 **OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own any of its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun.)**

* * *

 **FRAGARIA FIGHTER**

 **CHAPTER THREE: DRUPE'S DETERMINATION**

Throughout the week since Sunday's training session, Rad spent his break times at work to help Drupe control and perfect her newfound ability in producing vine whips, and quite frankly, they were both having loads of fun during the process. Each practicing session succeeded in Drupe managing to heighten her agility, attentiveness, and stability over her powers as they days went by, whether or not she was training with Rad or just working out by herself.

By Wednesday, Rad even took the training up a notch by even doing some real one-on-one sparring between one another. Of course, Drupe felt a little apprehensive on doing actual fighting, but when Rad made sure that he would never actually try to hurt her, her confidence rose back up and they managed to continue progress on getting her power level to increase.

Naturally, Drupe's fighting skills were still a tad lower than Rad's, but even after a few flubs and slip-ups during training, she was proving to be quite decent upon learning each new fighting move that Rad instructed her with.

When Friday came along, Drupe's stats had improved nicely over the week's course, much to Rad's joy. Sadly though, it still wasn't enough to get her power gauge past Level 0. But even then, Drupe was having too much fun to even notice not getting to Level 1 yet.

Currently, she was in Mr. Gar's Bodega with Rad, Enid, and K.O. as the latter three stood back with amazement as Drupe was busily using her whips to do some fancy stunt work, such as juggling some food items from the shelves.

She had just finished her trick, capping it off by stacking back the items back on their respective shelves with her vines. The Bodega Trio cheered and clapped enthusiastically at Drupe's performance. Drupe giggled and curtsied at the positive response before joining the group by the cashier counter.

"Wow, Drupe! Those were some awesome moves!" chirped K.O. excitedly, all hyped up like a kitten on catnip.

"Yeah, looks like havin' Rad act as a teacher actually does pay off. Who'd thought, eh?" quipped Enid, who was just as impressed with Drupe as the others. Rad chortled happily and passed a bottle of water towards Drupe.

"With moves like that, you'll be able to fight robots with us in no time!" complemented Rad. Drupe took a swig of water and looked at Rad with hopeful eyes.

"You really think so?" she asked excitedly. Rad nodded proudly.

"Absolutely! Heck, you may even be ready to fight a BoxMore Bot _now_ with improved skills like that!" he stated. Drupe's face broke into a giddy grin.

Enid, however, raised an eyebrow towards Rad before flipping off the counter and walking up to her alien co-worker.

"Yeah, slow your roll, hotshot…" she put in, coming in between Rad and Drupe, "Drupe's power progress may be going along great, but I think she may need some more time before we can pit her against a real enemy!"

Rad gave Enid a funny look. "'More time'? Enid, Drupe's been training for a whole week now, and she's able to control her powers much better than before! We've both been working hard on this and I feel that she can really do this!" exclaimed Rad, looking at Drupe with a genuine smile, which Drupe shyly returned.

Enid only replied with a tired sigh. "I know you both have, but it's gonna take more than a week of training to prepare yourself for a battle against any of Boxman's goons. You know those guys don't pull any punches!" she stated matter-of-factly.

K.O. waltzed up next to Enid and decided to stick up for the strawberry girl as well.

"Oh, come on, Enid! I'm sure Drupe can handle herself against a silly BoxMore Bot." he said encouragingly, "Heck, even someone like me can battle those stupid robots without breakin' a sweat!"

Enid sighed and kneeled down next to K.O.. "That's because you have more fighting experience than Drupe, kiddo. When you first came here, you got your butt handed to ya by a Darrell, but later on, you trained yourself harder and longer to gain the endurance to go up against Boxman's robots and win." she explained carefully to her little friend.

K.O. looked down at his feet, an understanding, but rather sad look on his face. Enid stood back up at focused back on Rad and Drupe.

"Look, all I'm saying, Rad, is that regardless of her newfound abilities, Drupe may still need time before we can break her in. We've all seen what 'bots like Raymond, Shannon, Mikayla or even Ernesto can do, so I just feel that Drupe should just pace herself for now…" she stated.

Rad scoffed unhappily at Enid's persistence. "Enid, come on! Don't you wanna see Drupe test her skills against a villain? What does she have to lose?" exclaimed Rad, throwing his arms in the air with annoyance.

Enid now turned towards Rad, a serious and annoyed look in her eyes.

"Her _life_ , because I don't want Drupe to end up splattered across the sidewalk by some psychopathic robot is all!" snapped Enid.

Drupe's ears perked up upon hearing Enid's bold statement. She felt her bravado deteriorate as one particular word flew out of Enid's mouth.

' _S-Splattered…?_ ' she thought in her mind in shock.

"Do you remember when Boxman sent over that Big Darrell a few weeks ago?" continued Enid, glaring at Rad with unwavering eyes, "We had to enlist _the entire plaza_ to help us take on something that the two of us can't beat! And do you even know what weapons these BoxMore bozos even carry? Buzzsaws, blasters, hammers, anything that can send any one of us to our doom! The only reason you, me, and K.O. can handle this is because we have experience, Rad!"

As the two teens argued over the situation for a good while, with only K.O. standing by awkwardly and unsure how to break up the fight, Drupe could only reflect on what Enid was trying to point out.

The words "splattered", "hammers" and "buzzsaws" seemed to have struck a chord in Drupe's mind. After spending nearly a whole week of finally feeling self-assured in her own abilities, she nearly forgot that even with these powers and her increasing stats, that doesn't mean she was invincible altogether. She thought back to witnessing the fights between the Bodega Trio and the BoxMore robots. Looking back, they all seemed pretty grizzly and taxing, even if Rad and his team always came out on top, but still!

Drupe suddenly felt her conviction fade away into slight fear, her legs trembling at the thought of actually being killed during battle. She decided it was best to intervene as Enid and Rad's argument still continued on during her realization.

"Enid, look, all I'm sayin' is that Drupe should take the opportunity to test her powers!" proclaimed Rad, "I'm sure _she_ would agree that she is already ready to fight, aren't ya, Drupe?"

With the attention now fully spotlighted on Drupe, all she could do was tremble and gulp nervously, her beautifully ruby red face all pale and wrinkled with self-doubt.

"Y-Y-Y'know, Rad...m-maybe Enid is right. Maybe I'm not ready to fight yet…" she admitted in a jittery, timid voice.

Rad, Enid, and K.O. looked at Drupe with surprised looks as silence finally fell over the trio. After a week of training and finally building up her confidence, was she _really_ just about to throw in the towel after putting in a week of training?

"D-Drupe, what are ya saying? We've been practicing all this time and you've been doin' great with those vine whips of yours!" stated Rad incredulously.

"Y-Yeah...but maybe Enid has a point about me not being ready. I-I don't have the might to go up against a BoxMore Bot! I'm still Level 0, and my fighting skills are still not as good as yours, y'know...I mean, I've been mainly using my powers for stunts and tricks and stuff most of the time..." She sighed softly and looked away from the group.

"Plus...I don't think I'm even capable to go against a villain, not with these silly vines…" she explained glumly. Enid looked towards the strawberry teen with sad and somewhat-guilty eyes. She walked up to Drupe, looked her in her face, and softly placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Drupe, I'm not saying you're not a capable hero, I just don't want you to get hurt while fighting one of those robots, is all…" assured Enid in a soft, almost-sisterly tone.

Drupe simply shrugged unsurely and looked away from the magenta-haired teen before her. Enid sighed and went back towards Rad.

"Ugh, look, Rad. I'm glad you have the upmost confidence that Drupe can handle herself in battle, but these things take time, y'know…you both will just have to continue training is all..." she said calmly.

Rad frowned and looked down for a minute. He genuinely did want to help Drupe become a hero, and he did feel that Drupe was now ready to fight, but with Enid dead-set on feeling that Drupe wasn't ready yet and Drupe now getting cold feet about this situation, all he could do is stay silent, unsure of what to say or do.

Luckily, a convenient noise rang about the bodega before Rad could even think about voicing his indignation.

 ***WEEEEE-WOOOOO* *WEEEEE-WOOOOO***

The sudden sound of a blaring alarm interrupted their conversation, with the bodega engulfed in a flashing red light. Drupe was caught off-guard and looked very confused, though K.O., Enid, and Rad knew exactly what was to happen. Coupled with the sound of Mr. Gar's military sergeant-esque tone booming through the P.A. system, this could only mean one thing...

" _BOXMAN ROBOT ATTACK! ALL BODEGA WORKERS ASSEMBLE!_ "

In no time at all, K.O. and Enid blasted out of the store and whooshed past Rad and Drupe at supersonic speed, both raring to kick some robot butt.

"Come on, Rad! We got a plaza to save!" called K.O. as he zipped outside. Enid followed suit, but not before giving Rad a warning look as she ran outside.

Drupe gazed outside in awe. Usually, some Lakewood heroes would be too scared to face off against a BoxMore Bot, and yet, here just went these two heroes rushing outside, whom both didn't even hesitate to risk their lives to help protect their store and their citizens.

' _Why can't I can have confidence like that…?_ ' she thought sadly to herself.

"So, you wanna join in?"

A friendly voice broke Drupe straight out of her thoughts. She blinked and stared at Rad in bafflement. "What?" she asked.

"I said, you wanna join in?" offered Rad, his lips pursed in a genuine smile. Drupe stared at Rad, her fearful eyes growing to the size of dinner plates.

"ME!?" she squeaked horrifically, "Seriously!? I-I can't, Rad!"

"Why not? Look, you've been doin' incredibly good this week during our practicing, and those vines of yours do prove to be efficient and powerful…"

"Well, yeah, but, this is...I mean...I-I-I'm still a Level 0! Enid says I need more practice before I can go up against a BoxMore Bot!" she tried to explain, but the seriousness of the situation got the poor girl all tongue-tied.

"Puh-lease, that's most an exaggeration! Most of the robots that BoxMore sends over are a bunch of showoffs! Plus, you did say that you were serious about giving this fighting thing a chance!" beckoned Rad matter-of-factly.

"I mean, I-I guess, but...b-but Enid said that-"

"Don't worry about what Enid said, Drupe. Let's just focus on seeing what those vines of yours can do against an enemy." he said

Despite the stubborn encouragement that Rad was displaying towards her, poor Drupe didn't know what to do or say. On one hand, she _did_ want to feel more self-reliant about her newfound abilities by any means necessary, but on the other hand, she would be going up against a destructive robot hell-bent on turning the entire plaza into a nothing but a parking lot! She trembled fearfully in place, unable to give out a clear answer, only able to bury her head in her hands and whimper weakly.

She was about ready to chicken out and call it quits when she felt a gentle hand getting placed on her shoulder. Drupe turned her head in shock, now seeing Rad squeezing her shoulder protectively and giving her a soft, supportive smile.

"Listen, don't worry about a thing, Drupe. We all got your back. If anything goes awry, we'll be there to help you. Just do your best, alright? I believe in you..." he murmured encouragingly.

Drupe was so gobsmacked by the support that she blushed and nearly felt like shedding a tear. However, this is no time to get be all emotional.

This was the time to be a hero.

Putting on a brave smile and giving Rad an affirmative nod, the two teens dashed out of the bodega, now hand-in-hand, ready for the fight of Drupe's lifetime...

 **TO BE CONCLUDED…**

* * *

 **Looks like Drupe's first-ever battle is ready to commence! Who's the lucky BoxMore Bot that Drupe's gonna fight? Will she prove herself well in battle? The answers come very soon when we get to the fourth and last chapter: Drupe's Duel!**

 **Don't forget to drop a review and thanks for reading! Love ya! 3**

 **~Thunderbyrd**


	4. Chapter 4: Drupe's Duel (Final Chapter)

**And here comes the juicy action at last in my longest chapter yet!**

 **To be honest, this is probably the more taxing OK K.O. fanfic I did, even moreso than "Highway to the Danger Zone". This was originally gonna be a two-parter fic, but after realizing that the story wasn't as fleshed out as I wanted it to be and I haven't had time to properly plan out this story (hence why some of the dialogue and situations in both this and the last two chapters feel rushed IMO), I sort of just feel that this story feels kinda underwhelming and not my best work. Plus, I feel like I'm making Rad more of a stubborn jerk in this story than the writers do in the actual show...**

 **In short, if you like this story, that's absolutely great and I thank you for reading (thanks to TheRedGlobox for following, btw). But, if you don't, I completely understand and I apologize for my lackluster story. Still though, thanks for sticking around in this story and I promise to bring more A-material next time!**

 **OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes is owned by Ian Jones-Quartey and Cartoon Network. (I do not own its characters nor its properties. This is purely a non-profit fanfic made for fun.)**

* * *

 **FRAGARIA FIGHTER**

 **CHAPTER FOUR: DRUPE'S DUEL**

"So, who did ya think we're going up against today, little buddy?"

K.O. bounced in place next to Enid, his fists tightened and his smile beaming bright. "Oooh, I hope it's another Darrell! Those guys are always fun and easy to beat!" he chirped happily.

Enid chuckled and stretched her limbs, looking up to the purple sky as the clouds above began to swirl ominously, indicating the arrival of Boxman's robot forces.

"Yeah, maybe it'll be an easy fight today. Then again, it's not like we lose against these jerks that much, eh…?" she mused good-heartedly. She then looked around behind her, only seeing her little hero-in-training outside beside her.

"Where the heck is Rad?" she asked curiously, "We got a fight starting up soon!"

K.O. shrugged confusedly, also noticing the lack of their blue, muscular friend as well. The chime of the bodega door ring caught their attention.

"Sorry for the wait, guys! We're ready to fight!" shouted someone behind them.

K.O. perked up upon hearing that familiar voice. "See, Enid? They're ready now!" he confirmed happily.

Enid sighed in relief as she turned her head back. "Ah, about time that-wait a minute... _they're?_ K.O., what are you talking abo-?"

The bodega doors lid open to reveal K.O.'s query, showing both Radicles and Drupe running outside and ready to fight. K.O. gave them both an excited smile and waved at them.

Enid, however, looked like she was ready to have a heart attack.

"ARE YOU FLIPPING SERIOUS, RAD!?" shouted Enid, looking at her alien friend with bugged-out eyes. "DID YOU SERIOUSLY FORGET OUR CONVERSATION, YOU NUTCASE!?"

Rad ran up towards the twosome with Drupe in tow, looking back at the seething Enid with apologetic eyes.

"Enid, I know you're upset, but you have to trust me on this!" assured Rad in hopes to quell her anger.

"Trust the fact that you completely ignored my warning!?" she retorted, her eye twitching like mad. Rad, however, kept his stance and his mind set on his goal.

"Look, Drupe said she wants to boost her confidence, so we'll all just have to watch her back once this match gets started, simple as that!" replied Rad, stating the facts as calmly as he can.

Enid was about to disagree again before Drupe finally cut into their argument.

"Please, Enid? I can do this! Just give me a chance to prove my worth…" she coaxed in the most hopeful tone she could muster.

Enid looked towards the two with a look that screamed "are-you-for-real?", unable to give him a real answer. It only took a few seconds of silence before she finally caved in with the idea, all while giving out a defeat sigh.

"Ugh, fine, whatever. But, we ain't through discussing this, Radicles…" she muttered upsettingly, greatly annoyed by Rad's actions.

Rad and Drupe nodded back and soon, the four heroes stood in front of the store, all ready, willing, and able to battle. Even then, with Enid being quite agitated with Rad right now, as the fight was ready to commence, she still couldn't help but to continue fretting over Drupe's sake.

' _Maybe for her safety, they'll send over a Darrell or a Jethro to attack us or something…_ ' she thought hopefully.

Her inner thoughts were soon broken as the clouds began parting ways for their enemy to appear before them.

* **WHOOOOOOSH!** *

The sight of a large lavender box falling from the heavens indicated that the fight was underway. It slammed onto the ground with such force that the vibrations nearly sent Drupe falling on her knees.

At first, silence hung in the air, but only for a minute before the large crate shuddered and shook violently, before finally cracking open to reveal a familiar orange robot prance out of the box, brandishing two dual, spinning saw blades in place for her hands.

"Afternoon, flesh bags!" she screeched with a dementedly cheerful tone, "It's me, Shannon, and I'm itching for a fight!' she declared, her saw blades whirring in delight.

Drupe gulped thickly in fear, but still kept her stance with her bravest face. Rad and K.O. looked towards Drupe with concerned and wary eyes. Enid, however, suppressed the urge to audibly groan as she facepalmed in agony.

' _Of all the robots they have at BoxMore, did they really have to bring in_ this _one…?_ ' Enid thought grimly to herself.

With her little introduction out of the way, Shannon managed to break away from her self-indulgence to see the Bodega Team standing before her...along with their newest member. Shannon cocked an eyebrow and retracted her blades in place for her regular hands, all while giving them a smug Cheshire Cat-esque smirk.

"Well, well, well…" she hummed cheekily, slowly sashaying towards her opponents, "It seems that our brave, heroic trio now became a quartet. How sweet of you three to let this new girl join in on the fun..." The four heroes still stood strong, keeping themselves on the lookout for any of Shannon's tricks.

"Stay sharp, guys…Shannon's as unpredictable as she gets." whispered Enid. The others nodded in confirmation, although Drupe still seemed very unsure of this situation, especially as she caught sight of Shannon staring weirdly right at her.

"Uhhh...what is she doing?" she asked, feeling very creeped out. The others weren't sure as well, but they still kept their sights on the BoxMore Bot with unwavering senses.

Shannon's lips straightened in thought. Unbeknownst to Drupe, Shannon's CPU was already working overtime scanning the unfamiliar strawberry teen before her, trying to detect any real threat that she could possess during battle. Fortunately, she almost didn't need to once her sensors picked up on what Drupe's power level exactly was.

" _A Level 0!?_ " she screeched incredulously. Shannon choked back a laugh before continuing on.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Wait a minute, you're seriously telling me that your new ally here is leveled zero!? _BWA-HA-HA-HA-HA_ …"

The echoing sounds of Shannon's crazed laughter tore through the plaza air like a knife cutting through butter. It was so much that the poor robot nearly fried her circuits from laughing too hard, but still tried to keep her composure, with little avail.

K.O., Enid, and Rad could only look at Shannon with befuddled expressions, uncertain of what to say or do. Drupe, on the other hand, felt secretly hurt over Shannon's mocking and blushed embarrassingly, but tried not to let it show.

"Heh-heh-heh-heh! Oh, you Lakewood imbeciles never cease to amaze me. To think that Mr. Gar would recruit some overly-ripe fruit to try and defend his own plaza! _Ha!_ She just looks so cowardly and weak!" she chortled, wiping away a tear.

Drupe's ears perked up in surprise. "Over-ripe fruit?" she echoed back in a stilted tone.

The rest of the team grew very protective over Drupe upon hearing that insult and readied their stances to fight. K.O., in particular, growled angrily at the female robot and clenched his fists in rage. How dare this bucket of bolts insult one of his friends!

"She has more honor and strength than you'll ever have, Shannon!" accused K.O., seconds away from giving the orange android a power-fist to the head. Rad decided to stick up for his friend as well.

"Yeah! She can whoop your butt into next month, Shannon!" he added, rising a fist towards the robot.

Shannon, now managing to calm herself down, simply replied with a snooty scoff.

"Oh, calm yourselves, you fleshbags…" dismissed Shannon haughtily, "Honestly, it's not like this plump sack of jelly can be even labelled as a true threat anyways…" Upon hearing that, Drupe's face now contorted into a furious scowl.

"WHAT!?" she screeched, her uneasiness now replaced with a rising fury.

"You heard me, honey! Your allies here have power levels well above the zero mark, and here you are, standing here looking all powerless and helpless, like a lost puppy." mocked Shannon, relishing in the mockery.

Enid, whom was feeling apprehensive over the whole "Drupe fighting a robot" situation, even began to throw out her

"Shannon, you better knock it off right now!' she warned, all while carefully looking towards Drupe, who was seething silently in anger. Shannon, however, could care less.

" _HA!_ Or what? You'll send this thick-hipped flunkie to beat me up? Like I said, I am a highly-ranked and fully-equipped android and she is a Level 0 fruit girl with no redeeming attributes!"

And then, as if to pour more salt on the wound, Shannon cockily smirked before giving out one fatal taunt to push Drupe over the edge.

"Am I making my point clear, Little Miss Thunder-Thighs?" she asked Drupe in a faux sweet-hearted voice, "You. _Are_. _**Nothing**_..."

It was at this point that Drupe's face grew an unhealthy shade of crimson. Her blood boiled at a furious rate, her fists clenched tightly and her breathing growing heavy and almost animal-like. She still kept her deadly stare fixated on the laughing BoxMore Bot standing in her way.

Rad and the others looked worriedly towards Drupe, feeling unsure of what to do next. Rad was now ready to ask Drupe if she was okay, but seeing the sight of Shannon's right arm turning into a saw blade towards the sentient strawberry caused to him lose his voice.

"Ah, well...it'll be a crying shame to see you perish once I'm through wreaking havoc upon the plaza. You bodega bozos should've thought twice before bringing Strawberry Shortcake here under your wing, but hey, what can ya do?!" Shannon sighed dismissively.

With her saw blades spinning dangerously fast, she was just about ready to skewer Drupe into jam when out of nowhere…

 ***CRRAACK!* *ZZZZAP!***

Something long and sharp-looking slashed right through Shannon's torso with such speed and force that the female BoxMore Bot fell down on her rear with a metallic clung.

After what felt like minutes ticking by, Shannon finally gathered the strength to get her bearings straight. She stared down at her chest, now showing a long, deep-looking cut that managed to slice through some her circuitry, enough to cause a bit of oil to bleed out from the cracks.

Shannon gawked in horror, but when she finally looked up at her opponent, her disbelief sky-rocketed upon seeing Drupe.

Standing right before her, stood an angry-looking Drupe producing one of her vine whips from her right arm! Her reddening face still glew a shade of red that was more brighter than her normal ruby-toned complexion, while she glared daggers straight at the befuddled Shannon with contempt.

Rad, K.O., and Enid looked on with astonishment upon seeing Drupe successfully land her first move. So much so that they were practically frozen on the spot, their jaws agape and eyes bugging out.

Drupe still stared down at the BoxMore Bot, as her anger now making way to show a cocky, self-assured smile etched on her face.

"' _What can I do?_ ', you say?", she challenged with a tone akin to Shannon's own mocking voice, "Let's find out, shall we…?"

Shannon snarled, her surprised face now contorting with pure, unbridled anger. However, deep down, she was actually delighted at the prospect of having a new challenger that's actually worthy enough to defeat, Shannon's face shone a rather giddy and devious smile that even the Grinch would be proud of.

"Yes, _let's_ …", she growled vehemently.

Lunging back up on her feet, she darted towards Drupe at mach speed. However, before she can deliver a striking blow, Drupe used her dual vines to propel her body straight up into the air with grace and ease, sending the orange robot falling on her face in surprise.

Drupe, catching her opportunity to strike, landed with her right foot striking downwards and firmly stomping down right on Shannon's robotic spine.

"AAARRRGHH!"

Shannon screamed in painful anger, but still managed to flip Drupe off her back and swung her saws haphazardly at Drupe with violent vigor.

Drupe swiftly managed to dodge the incoming attacks, and retaliated back by swinging her vines around the base of the blades and pulling her vines back towards her, thus ripping the saw blades from their moorings.

Shannon growled furiously, ignoring the pain as she then retracted her hands. Perhaps she'll have to literally knock some sense into Drupe's head.

She then jumped high into the sky, throwing Drupe off-guard for a bit, before landing back down behind Drupe, throwing back a fist. Luckily, Drupe caught wind of Shannon's plan and quickly turned around, swinging her vines straight at her torso with enough force to toss Shannon into the path of a nearby parked sedan.

* **KA-BOOOOM!** *

The harsh impact between Shannon and the vehicle caused it to implode suddenly, sending a plume of smoke and dust high into the air. Drupe took this chance to catch her breath, her forehead covered in sweat and her cheeks red from slight exhaustion.

Unfortunately, even through the dark smoke, Drupe sensed that the fight wasn't over yet as a pair of red, menacing eyes glaring towards her.

" _RRRRAAAARRRRGH!_ " came the angered screaming of the BoxMore Bot.

Sprinting through the smoke, Shannon kept her sights locked on Drupe, and despite her dents and scratches, she was far from finished. She reeled back her fist again, ready to throw another punch. Drupe gasped in terror and quickly raised her vine whips up in protection.

Shannon bounded in front of the strawberry girl and promptly began blindly throwing a swift flurry of hard punches at her, all while screaming like a mad woman.

To Shannon's shock however, her punches weren't really connecting at all!

Looking towards her enemy, she noticed that Drupe was using her vines to quickly block and swipe away each blow with ease. Regardless, Shannon's shock quickly transformed into determination as she still soldiered on with her rapid punches, hoping to at least land one punch.

* * *

Meanwhile, Team Gar were still frozen in awe, watching the spectacle before them. A few minutes ago, there stood Drupe, all meek and self-conscious about whether or not she could actually fight, and yet, here she is now, fueled with rage and laying the absolute smackdown on their own enemy, with little to no trouble at all. At this point, they almost didn't know what to say or do. K.O. finally piped up after minutes of stunned silence.

"Sh-Should we join in and protect her? She might need our help!" he squeaked out in worry. He was ready to step forward and see if he can help her out, but Rad reached an arm out in front of him, stopping him in his tracks. K.O. confusedly looked up at Rad, who just continued looking at Drupe with a big smile on his face.

"Let's give her a chance...I think she's got this, little dude..." reassured Rad, his voiced laced with pride. K.O. looked up at Rad with unsure eyes, but silently decided to abide with his choice and stood back with Enid, who was just as shell-shocked as her friends.

* * *

Shannon slowly began to tire down and her tornado of punches started to slowly dwindle, Drupe took this chance to use her vine whip and quickly clothes-lined Shannon off her feet, causing the robot to slam onto the ground in pain. Drupe smirked.

"Still think I'm nothing, you big-headed harpy!?" she taunted. Shannon's eye twitched uncontrollably, her patience wearing thinner by the millisecond.

"Oh, I'm far from finished, sweetheart…" she snarled venomously, "They'll be literally scraping you off of the sidewalk once I'm through with you!"

Thinking fast, Shannon extended her arm and grabbed hold of Drupe's ankle managed to flip Drupe off her feet and land straight on her back.

Seizing the opportunity, Shannon leaped like a jaguar and pounced on Drupe's torso, pinning her to the ground.

She then lifted her left hand to the sky. The hand suddenly grew sharp-looking claws, and with no warning or remorse...

 ***SLASH!*** " _OOOUUUCCH!_ "

...Shannon swiftly slashed through Drupe's dress, leaving a decent-sized mark on her stomach. Drupe winced in pain and clutched her stomach, as the gash started to slowly bleed. She closed her eyes and went into fetal position out of pain, with Shannon cackling over her.

From the sidelines, Rad, K.O., and Enid all gasped in terror at the sight of their friend getting injured, with Rad's expression looking more floored than the others. After minutes of being stuck on the side watching Drupe fight Shannon, they were too stunned to even move while seeing Drupe fight so well, before finally getting beaten down. If they didn't act now, Shannon would then kill Drupe on the spot!

At this point, Rad made his final decision.

"O-Okay, I think _now_ we should do something, guys!" he declared, prompting a nod from K.O. and Enid.

"Smartest thing you've said all day…" quipped Enid tiredly.

"Let's get her!" rallied K.O., as he and the two teens began sprinting towards Shannon and Drupe.

Shannon, in question, gazed at her handiwork with a bored look on her face. Here, she thought that Drupe would have proved to be a decent opponent after her suspicions have been supposedly dashed. In the end, she that Drupe was still a weak fleshling, regardless of her strawberry humanoid features.

"Hmph, pathetic…" she growled, as she raised her claws, preparing for another chance to strike.

As Drupe was too scared and in pain to open her eyes again, Shannon waltzed slowly towards her.

"Typical little newbie! You couldn't beat me on your best day!" she mocked evilly.

"LEAVE HER ALONE, SHANNON!" cried out a trio of voices.

Shannon craned her head to see K.O., Rad, and Enid dashing towards her. She jumped off of Drupe and produced her saw blades once again.

Enid started off their attack with her power kick ability, sending an orange foot-shaped blast in Shannon's direction. Shannon acted quickly and lunged in the air, avoiding the blast. However, she failed to notice Rad quickly use his telekinesis to engulf her in a purple bubble, trapping her mid-air, no matter how much she struggled.

That's when K.O. came in, as he bounded into the sky, soaring towards the robot with his power fist ready to impact. Luckily, it did, as the punch connected against Shannon's head with a sickening clang, with enough force to bring Shannon falling back on the pavement, with a fist-shaped dent on the top right part of her skull.

All while this was happening, Drupe finally managed to sober up and fight through the pain to see what was going on. Through her blurry, teary vision, she noticed her friends getting the upper hand on Shannon and they proceeded to dogpile her, the fighting now lost in a dust cloud of punches and kicks.

Drupe then looked at her cuts and gasped audibly. The cuts weren't deep enough to be fatal, but they still stung painfully and were enough to cause it to bleed a little. Small splotches of blood stained her trademark green dress. Seeing the ripped, stained dress caused Drupe to hyperventilate unsteadily, her pupils shrinking in horror...

The long, large amounts of fighting, however, were sending Shannon to her boiling point, as the trio continued wailing on her.

" _ **ENOUGH!**_ "

Without warning, she transformed her hand into a large, steel hammer and successfully smacked away the trio off of her, sending them catapulting towards the bodega.

K.O. and Enid were thrown far enough to end up landing by the dumpster, banging their heads against the metal trash receptacle, thus knocking them temporarily unconscious. Rad, however, was lucky enough to use his telekinesis to propel his body safely on the ground, close by his friends.

He noticed his passed out compadres and tended to them immediately.

"Guys! Are you okay!?" he cried worriedly. Enid and K.O. groaned painfully in return, very slowly seeping back into consciousness. He didn't have much time to dwell on that though, as the sound of Shannon's cackles sent shivers up his spine.

He turned around to see Shannon waltz towards her, as she cracked her knuckles nonchalantly. Rad took this as his chance to strike first and readied his telekinesis powers up.

Shannon, however, anticipated this. She quickly grabbed a handicapped parking space sign next to her, ripped it out of the ground, and held it in her hands like a spear. She immediately aimed and tossed it at Rad like a javelin.

Rad flinched at the sight of the sign hurtling towards him and used his levitation beam to stop it mid-air. However, as he was focused on doing that…

"Hi-YAHHH!"

* **POW!** *

"OOOFF!"

* **SMASH!** *

...that he didn't know that Shannon used it as a distraction to get the upper hand, resulting in getting kicked in the gut by her and sent flying inside the dumpster.

Rad groaned dizzily alongside his two lethargic friends, with Shannon dusting off her shoulders and spitting out a metallic tooth.

"Amateurs…" she simply scoffed.

Shannon proceeded to walk back to Drupe to continue her unfinished business. Seeing the strawberry crouched on the ground gave her a sense of superiority and satisfaction. She went up to Drupe and looked at her bleeding cuts, smirking maliciously.

"So sorry if I had to _cut a rug_ , princess, but once you tango with Shannon, you better watch your moves…" she sneered, still pinning the poor fruit girl to the ground.

With her captor now firmly ensnared below him, she snapped with fingers once, and in a few seconds, her hand morphed back into the hammer once again. She loomed over Drupe and raised the hammer above her head, raring to strike down on Drupe's head.

Shannon smiled darkly down on Drupe, her eyes twinkling with sadistic glee.

"Sweet dreams, harlot!"

 ***SMACK!***

" _What the!?_ "

At the last second, just before she can strike the final blow, Drupe's vine whip grabbed hold around Shannon's left shoulder like a lasso. Shannon gawked at the sudden attack and looked down at Drupe, who raised her head back up to stare back at Shannon…

...with the most pissed-off expression that the BoxMore Bot has ever seen.

Without warning, Drupe angrily flung the stunned android in the air, hopped back on her feet, and proceeded to repeatedly toss and slam Shannon back and forth on the pavement, like a helpless ragdoll, kicking up dust with each slam to the ground.

" ***SMASH*** THIS! ***CRASH*** WAS! ***BASH*** MY! ***SMASH*** FAVORITE! ***CRASH*** DRESS! ***BASH*** YOU! ***SMASH*** METAL! ***CRASH*** _BARBARIAN!_ ***BASH*** "

Nuts, bolts, and circuitry flew about in all directions with every hard slam Shannon made with each contact to the solid ground. Her pride now shattered and her sadistic demeanor now replaced with pure, unadulterated fear, all she could do was beg for mercy for Drupe to spare her.

"GAH! STOP! PLEASE! I DIDN'T MEAN TO- _OUCH!_ NOT THE FACE! ANYTHING, BUT THE FACE! PLEASE, NO! GAAH! OKAY! OKAY! I GIVE UP! DARRELL!? RAYMOND!? DADDY!? ANYONE!? _HELP ME!_ "

But, alas, it was no use. Shannon was getting her robotic butt handed to her by a Level 0 fruit-based fashionista, and unfortunately for her sake, Drupe wasn't letting up anytime soon. Between the loud smashing and Shannon's pleas for help and mercy, the noise was enough to attract the attention of everyone around the plaza, including those who working in their own stores.

* * *

Real Magic Skeleton was perched inside the iFrame store, looking through the window with a smartphone in hand. His eyes was widened with shock as he kept filming the fight that was happening across the way, unable to look away from the action. Now, with the final blow being struck on camera, RMS could only quiver and gawk with speechless surprise.

His co-worker and best friend Brandon, however, seemed more nonplused about this event as he shambled by, munching away some cheese puffs without a care. RMS noticed his friend pass by and grabbed him by the shirt, literally pressing his smartphone against the bear's face.

"Dude, you better check this out!" he stated hastily, as the video showing two figures battling in a big dust cloud.

"Uh, what am I exactly lookin' at, Magi?" asked Brandon confusedly, "It's just K.O. and his friends fighting Shannon. We see this every week, dude…"

RMS' eye twitched. "It's not just them fighting Shannon, it's someone else!" he babbled.

Brandon scanned the video as closely as he could, trying to decipher the newcoming fighter. After a few seconds of focusing, as the dust cleared in the video, Brandon's eyes grew to the size of dinner plates upon seeing who was fighting Shannon...

"DRUPE!?" he shouted in shock, spitting up a mouthful of cheese puffs.

RMS and Brandon looked at each other with shell-shocked looks in stunned silence. Immediately, without hesitation, they bolted out of the store and were ready to see this action up close and check on their friend. Luckily, they also happened to notice Red Action run up past their store with a confused look on her face.

"What the heck is going on, guys!?" cried Red in alarm, "It sounds louder than the Danger Zone out here!"

Brandon turned towards the Hue Trooper and flailed his arms in hasty excitement.

"Drupe! Fighting! BoxMore! Bodega! Power Battle! Run! Help!" was all that he could shout before he and RMS fled to the scene of the action.

Even with the gibberish that came out of Brandon's mouth, the message was clear and present to Red Action.

"Drupe? _Fighting!?_ " she parroted in surprise. She wasted no time following the iFrame workers, who along with a group of other curious plaza patrons, ran towards the bodega to see what the situation was.

* * *

Drupe kept on swinging Shannon about for a good, full minute, too peeved to even think about stopping, much to Shannon's pain-stricken horror.

Finally, the final impact had managed to take a toll on poor Drupe was the hardest of them all, as one last hard slam onto the concrete caused the whip wrapped around her shoulder to tighten harder.

Harder enough for Drupe to _tear off_ Shannon's metallic arm in one clean swoop.

" _ **AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!**_ "

The agonizing shrieks from the smashed up BoxMore robot echoed across the valley to where even citizens from far away could even hearing her pain as she fell to the ground with a metallic crunch.

Drupe caught her breath once again, now looking at the android to see if she had any other tricks up her sleeves.

Right now, poor Shannon found herself laying across the cracked pavement, her beautiful body dented and smashed up in disarray and with quarts of oil leaking from the cracks in her destroyed torso. Her crumbled up arm laid a few feet away from her, lifeless and useless.

The damage proved to be too much for Shannon, so much so that his damage protocols went haywire, causing her CPU to shorten out and beginning to power down. Shannon weakly turned her head towards Drupe, whom was still catching her breath from her rage-induced fight. She tried to choke out one more insult, but she was too damaged to even muster up a syllable, only letting out a gargled croak instead.

Soon enough, she had no choice but to slowly deactivate, leaving behind a dented, defeated husk of a robot.

Drupe, now finally managing to calm herself down, was beside herself in awe upon seeing the mostly wrecked android sprawled out before her in a pile of loose circuits and diodes. She was still sobering up from her first legit battle that she almost forgot about Rad and the others knocked out close by the bodega, thus dropping her confidence and rage in place for shock and fear.

She ran up to the dumpster, hoping to tend to her friends.

"Guys! Guys, are you all okay!?" she beckoned, shaking K.O. and Enid's shoulders. The two heroes in question managed to wake up from their dazed stupor, along with Rad, whom lifted himself out of the dumpster, rubbing his bruised head.

"Oh, blorp, what happened?" he asked groggily. Enid coughed and tried to stand back up.

"Ugggh, I feel like I went 5 rounds with a scorpatron…" she muttered, trying to shake away the dizziness from her system. K.O. finally woke up afterwards.

"I-Is Drupe o-okaaayyy?" he asked in a slurred tone. However, with the sight of Drupe standing before them, the trio were immediately brought back their senses and gathered around her with curious and worried expressions.

"Drupe!? Are you okay!?" cried Enid in a surprised voice.

"What happened to Shannon!?" asked Rad worriedly. Suddenly, realization dawned on him upon seeing the bruised, but alive Drupe in front of him..

"Wait a minute…" he said softly. K.O. and Enid soon both caught on to what Rad was thinking about.

"D-Did you actually…" started K.O. in awe.

"...Win against Shannon?" confirmed Enid carefully.

Drupe gulped awkwardly and "I-I-I guess so?" she answered unsurely.

As if to make sure, the trio looked behind Drupe to see something orange, lifeless, and mangled crumbled up in a pile on the parking lot. Their eyes grew wider than ever before as they looked back at Drupe with amazed expressions.

"D-Drupe...won…" stammered K.O., his hands trembling uncontrollably.

"By Cob, she actually did it…" murmured Enid in a soft voice.

Rad, however, seemed more awestruck than the others, so much so that he was at a rare loss for words.

"D-D-Drupe...you...y-you really…" was all he could muster. Drupe grew incredibly nervous at the trio's shocked demeanors.

"G-Guys, look, I-I don't know what came over me, I-"

"Drupe...THAT WAS AMAZING!"

Drupe's nerve-wracked apology was interrupted by Rad, who was waving his arms excitedly and gave her the biggest, proudest smile he ever made. She blinked in mild confusion.

"I-It was?" she replied shyly. K.O. and Enid were next to give Drupe her praise.

"Yeah, Drupe! You were a real beast out there!" complimented Enid, giving Drupe a pat on the back.

"That was one of the most coolest, most awesomest fights I've ever seen!" squealed K.O., bouncing around Drupe with childlike enthusiasm. Rad then placed a comforting hand on Drupe's shoulder.

"See, Drupe? I told you that you could be a great hero!" reminded Rad with sincerity.

"Yeah, turns out Rad being a stubborn dummy turned out well in your favor…" quipped Enid, prompting a good-natured laugh from the alien in question.

"We knew you could do it, Drupe!" added K.O. finally, finishing their statement with a big thumbs-up.

The overwhelming cheers and congratulations of three enthralled heroes echoed around in her mind, and when realization finally struck inside Drupe's mind, she couldn't help but to crack a big smile and laugh joyfully and proudly.

"I-I can't believe I did it...I won my first fight! _I WON MY FIRST FIGHT!_ " she squealed in elation, bouncing in glee.

Soon, she found herself glomped in a big hug, with Rad and his two friends continuing to cheer to their ally. Drupe kept laughing and returned their hug with no objection.

"YEAH, WAY TO GO DRUPE!"

"WELL DONE, DRUPE!"

"THAT WAS FANTASTIC! WHOO-HOO!"

After a minute or so, they released each other from their hug, with Drupe being all giggly and beyond excited.

"Thanks so much, guys! I didn't think this could ever happen, but you guys helped me through, especially you, Rad!" she smiled, looking towards the alien with genuine happiness. Rad shrugged and couldn't help but to smile.

"Hey, just being there for a friend is all…" he stated as humbly as he can be. Drupe chuckled.

"I'm being serious, Rad! All this week, you've been training me to find my true power and you've been supporting me throughout this time!"

She then capped off this statement by giving Rad a tight, thankful hug.

"And I couldn't be anymore grateful. Thank you so much, Rad…" she replied sweetly. Rad's blushing smile couldn't get any more wider as he returned the hug, chuckling softly.

"Anytime, Drupe…" he said softly, "I'm sorry if I've been a stubborn idiot during our training though. I shouldn't have been so forceful into bringing you into a fight so fast…"

"It's okay, Rad…" replied Drupe sincerely, " _I'm_ sorry for being such a brat about wanting to be a hero. I really didn't mean to cause trouble to you and your friends…" she apologised quietly. Rad smiled back.

"It's alright, Drupe…" he answered back, squeezing the hug in reassurance.

All the while, Enid and K.O. stood back to let the duo have their moment, smiling warmly at the scene before them.

"Man, after a fight like that, your Power Level must be through the roof by now!" observed K.O.. Drupe gasped in surprise.

"Oh, my Pow Card!" she squeaked, pulling out her card. She swiped her finger along it to refresh to see what her status was now. However, she never got the chance to see as Enid piped up beside her.

"Uh, Drupe? I think you should look behind you and see this…" she said. The four heroes looked towards Enid's directions and froze in surprise, with Drupe naturally being most shocked of all.

A large crowd of Lakewood Plaza heroes and patrons were gathered around by the bodega with expressions that ranged between impressed, shocked, surprised, and amazed. Some even had smartphones out to record the spectacle. Drupe shyly gulped and stared at the crowd with big, nervous eyes.

"Uh...-h-hello?" was all she was able to say.

The silence hung in the air for half a minute before Real Magic Skeleton let his voice ring out loud for all to hear.

" _DRUPE JUST WON AGAINST SHANNON!_ "

Immediately afterwards, the crowd erupted into thunderous cheers and applause, enough to rock Drupe and the Bodega Team to their cores. Drupe's eyes went wide with wonder as suddenly, groups of people crowded around her, singing their praises to the fashion blogging strawberry.

"Drupe, that was so awesome!"

"A beautiful display of skill and courage! Most excellent!"

"Dude, I didn't know you can shoot vines like that!"

"You showed that dumb robot who's boss!"

"That was some pretty good fighting!"

"Hey guys, has anybody seen my car around here?"

So many people congratulated Drupe for her abilities and winning her first battle, and with so much genuine support being poured at her all at once, she almost wanted to cry tears of joy right there on the spot. As much as she wanted to thank her audience, the roaring of her fans made it hard to her to raise her voice.

Her curiosity peaked when she saw Red Action sift through the crowd, trying to get her attention.

"Drupe! Drupe!" cried Red. Drupe blinked in surprise and broke into a small smile.

"Red!?" she answered. The two managed to wade through the group of people and soon met up face-to-face with each other.

"Drupe, I didn't know you could fight like that!? How come ya never told me about this?" cried Red in excitement.

Drupe coughed awkwardly. "I-I guess it all just happened all at once…" she answered, mustering up a chuckle.

Red Action chuckled softly. "Well, either way, those were some pretty sick moves, girl…" she replied, giving her a friendly arm punch. The two chuckled good-heartedly in return.

A few seconds passed before Red continued the conversation.

"Look, Drupe. I'm really sorry I didn't tell ya about my Hue Troop job earlier. I only kept it secret because that I don't really see my role in the Hue Troop as all that fantastic and stuff, y'know..." she stated, prompting Drupe to grow baffled.

"Why would you think that?" she asked, "You get to protect the world and everybody here from monsters and robots and stuff, plus you're Level 4, Red! You're an awesome hero!"

Red Action chuckled again at her friend's compliments.

"Nah, that ain't true…" she admitted, now throwing an arm around Drupe's shoulders, "As far as I'm concerned, _we're_ both awesome heroes…"

Drupe smiled back at Red, blushing all the while. She temporarily broke away from gaze as Bell Beefer then picked her up and placed her on his shoulders like a pedestal.

"Party at my house in Drupe's honor!" he cheered, prompting another set of excited cheers from the group.

As Rad soon began to rally the crowd into a loud congratulation cheer, all Drupe could do just smile the biggest smile she had ever made. For the first time in her life, she was now feeling at home with her friends at Lakewood Plaza. She was confident in her own self-worth.

She was on the way to become a full-fledged hero...

"Three cheers for to our Level 1 hero, Drupe!" cried Rad in elation, "Hip hip!"

"HOORAY!"

"Hip hip!"

" _HOORAY!_ "

"Hip hip!"

" _ **HOORAY!**_ "

And as the group carried away Drupe to celebrate, all that was behind at the plaza was a lone Pow Card left in the parking lot after all the celebrating, with its refreshed status now fully updated on the front.

 **DRUPE - HERO LEVEL: 1**

 **THE END**

* * *

 **FUN FACT: In the first draft of this fic, Drupe and the others were going to fight Raymond in this chapter, but b/c I already used him as a major boss in my last story "Highway to the Danger Zone", I decided to use another bot instead, this time being Shannon.**

 **Anywhom, so ends "Fragaria Fighter" and my headcanon on how Drupe became Level One! Thanks a bundle for sticking through this story and I hope you've enjoyed this one! Next story will be another Gravity Falls DipperXWendy-type spiel, so I'll see ya very soon with that one! Love you all!**

 **~Thunderbyrd**


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